


One if by Land, Two if by Sea

by NutterZoi



Category: Night World - L. J. Smith
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21829612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NutterZoi/pseuds/NutterZoi
Summary: Instead of facing the vampires in the enclave, Rashel stays with the other girls to protect them. Some things change. Some things never will.
Relationships: Rashel Jordan/John Quinn
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	One if by Land, Two if by Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pyrophane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyrophane/gifts).



> Thanks as always to my lovely beta readers. This would be a mess without them. It was a delight to write. I took one of the characters you requested and ran with her (she's one of my favorites as well). Hope you enjoy!

Daphne was shaking her head, in tears. "It won't be worth it! Not if they kill you--which they will! You're already hurt--"

"It'll be worth it if I can stop him from doing it again," Rashel said quietly. "Now somebody throw me a rope or something to tie these guys with. And then leave. No, give me five minutes to get to the top of the cliff. Six minutes. That way maybe I can surprise them before they realize you're gone."

She opened her mouth to continue, but Daphne broke in again. She was still crying, but her jaw was set stubbornly, and even the baby fine hair haloing her face wasn't enough to take away from the fierceness of her expression. "No. We _need_ you. What if they come after us? You might not get them all, and then where will we be? They're _vampires_. They could have other boats we can't see or… I don't know-- _Please!_ Don't throw your life away here! Come with us. You said you would keep us safe, so _do_ it."

Rashel looked toward the cliff. She could finish this. She knew she could. She could end the whole thing and make sure that none of these monsters ever decided that it was a good idea to kidnap a bunch of girls for a bloodfeast ever again. She _wanted_ to. But then she looked back at Daphne and the other girls. Could she be _certain_ that she would get all of them, and that they would never come after these girls again? Really? She was good. She was _great_. She knew that. But was she great enough to take out _all_ of them?

Maybe not.

She turned her back on the cliff, on the enclave (she would find it again, raze it to the ground), and on John Quinn, still unconscious at her feet.

"All right," she said finally. "Let's go."

* * *

Rashel had not intended to find herself babysitting a bunch of teenage girls, but it turned out that when you rescued nearly two dozen of them from the Night World, that was exactly what you ended up doing. The initial plan had been for all of them to return home to their families, but even half a seconds' thought had proven that to be a terrible idea. Rashel hadn't been thinking clearly, after everything that had happened with Quinn, but distance had helped clear her head, and (though she hated to admit it) the damned Daybreaker Fayth had helped more.

Of course the girls couldn't go home. They knew about the Night World now. They were targets, just as Rashel herself had been when she'd been a child and shouting to everyone who would listen to her about the vampire that had killed her mother. She had grown out of it and disappeared into the foster care system. That wasn't likely to happen with all of these girls who had families and _names_ that either Quinn or Ivan or Lily knew. They couldn't go home, but they had to go somewhere.

That somewhere was Circle Daybreak.

Rashel didn't like it--Daybreakers were idiots--but there wasn't any other place to take a bunch of girls who knew about the Night World and wanted to keep breathing. And there wasn't any other place for Rashel either, right now. A vampire hunter who suddenly found herself unable to kill a vampire? _How_ many times had she had the chance to kill Quinn and failed to take it? Too many, in front of too many people--including Quinn himself. She needed to get her head on straight again. She didn't think that she'd actually _stay_ with Daybreak, but it was a landing point while she helped the girls from the bloodfeast and sorted herself out.

It had been weeks since they'd escaped the enclave, and she was starting to breathe a little easier. It wasn't that she didn't think they could still be found, but so far no one had come sniffing after them. As far as Rashel was concerned, that made them lucky, not safe, but sometimes lucky was enough. Especially if it lasted.

She shook her head a little. She always got in her own head when she was doing these late night patrols. Part of the deal with Daybreak was that she wasn't supposed to be actively hunting down vampires, but even they had had to admit that it made sense for her to go out on nightly patrols. She was a seasoned vampire hunter, and the girls were being hunted by vampires. She wasn't allowed to look for trouble (or bother any of the Daybreak vampires, much to her own annoyance), but watching for trouble aimed in their direction was just _logical_. 

She had picked a rooftop near--but not _too_ near--the safehouse where they were all staying. Most of her nights were quiet, but there was always the hope that she might get some action.

 _No,_ she reminded herself. _Hoping for trouble is a bad idea, Rashel. That's how bad things happen, like enclaves and bloodfeasts and stupid vampires that you still can't stop thinking about, so how about you stop hoping for the bad things?_

And speaking of bad things…

There was someone walking down the street below her. She wasn't quite sure what about them had captured her attention, but--no. Whoever it was, they moved like a vampire. A vampire she wasn't _supposed_ to be hunting, and the part of her that wasn't ever going to be a Daybreaker itched to just jump down and take care of things. She was still fighting with that part. She might not be a Daybreaker, but she had agreed to play by their rules, and that meant no jumping random vampires without a good reason.

She stood slowly. She'd been crouched for a while, and even as good as she was, she had a human body that that didn't like staying in one position for very long. She watched the vampire while she made sure her own legs and feet hadn't fallen asleep while she waited, and then started to follow.

She stayed high, sticking to the rooftops she'd claimed as her own as she tracked the vampire through the streets. Portland (Maine, not Oregon) was a lot different than Boston. The downtown area was much, much smaller, the buildings were shorter, and the streets were a little more haphazard (and that was saying something, considering the layout of Boston's streets). Still, the vampire didn't seem interested in leaving it, which made it easier to keep an eye on him--she was almost certain it was a him. She kept pace with him as he made his way down the streets, and ignored her growing sense of uneasiness. There was no reason for it. She hadn't been spotted. No one looked up. Not even vampires who were walking with no apparent aim through the streets, with no pause to hunt for victims.

She should stop. She should go back to the safehouse and leave this vampire alone--

He looked up, and her heart stopped.

It was Quinn. 

She needed to run, to warn Daybreak and the girls at the safehouse that they'd been found, and that they were going to have to run farther this time. They'd hoped to wait things out until they weren't being hunted anymore, choosing a closer safehouse location to keep a better eye on the situation, but clearly that had been a mistake. They would need to go farther. _Alaska_ , maybe.

She _needed_ to start running, but instead, she stood in place on the rooftop staring back at Quinn. He broke their gaze and started moving, and there was a part of her that was screaming to _run run run now_ , but the rest of her was frozen in place. She couldn't even blame his impressively strong vampiric mind control, because she knew that deep down… she wanted to stay.

He climbed up over the edge of the roof from the fire escape and stopped about ten feet away from her. She bit back a dark smile--apparently he was just as wary of contact as she was, and didn't want to take any chances. Smart.

"Rashel," he said, and stopped.

"Quinn."

He didn't take any steps closer, but now that he was on the rooftop with her, she could see that he looked different. He obviously hadn't grown or aged since she'd seen him last--he couldn't. But he looked tired and worn. Apparently the hunt hadn't agreed with him. "I found you."

He'd been looking for her--no, obviously he'd been looking. _Don't be stupid, Rashel, he hunted you down. It's not a coincidence that he's here._ "What do you want?"

"To warn you."

She blinked. Of all of the responses she had expected, this wasn't it. "Warn me? Of what?"

"I found out who was behind the bloodfeast. He was on the island. Hunter Redfern." His expression went briefly bleak before he continued. "He was furious that you had managed to escape. They're looking for you."

Of course they were. She had known they would be. "Isn't that why _you're_ here?" she demanded. Her hand didn't move to her bokken. It would be too obvious. She would have to be fast.

"Yes--no!" He held his hands up, showing that he was unarmed. "Yes, he sent me out to find you. All of you--don't tell me where you're living. No, I don't want to bring you back."

She stared at him. Apparently, this was going to be a night of surprises. This was a far cry from the John Quinn who had been perfectly willing to round up human girls and turn them over to the Night World for a banquet. 

"I don't need you to believe me. That's not why I'm here. But I wanted to tell you to be more careful. If I could find you, then someone else could, and anyone else who did would be a lot more eager than I am to do him a favor."

"Why aren't _you?_ " she asked, curiosity overcoming her caution.

Quinn gave her a slightly bitter smile. "Turns out I've had a change of heart over some of these more radical ideas."

"Really."

"Yes." He turned to go, then paused and reached into his pocket to toss something to her. She caught it and looked down into her hand. "Box 3529 at the post office on Forest Avenue. If I need to contact you again, it will be there. You can reach me that way, too, if anything comes up. I'll try to keep them off your trail, but I meant what I said. Hide better."

"Quinn--" He paused on his way to the edge of the roof and turned toward her again. "Just--be careful."

He snorted as she kicked herself for warning a _vampire_ to take care of himself. "I didn't know you cared."

"I don't," she fired back immediately. "But you can't warn me that the British are coming if you're dead."

She was rewarded with an honest laugh of both surprise and amusement as he went back over the side of the building. She told herself that she didn't notice how it warmed her inside to hear.

* * *

They kept their messages to each other short and businesslike.

_Middlesex awaits news of the King's forces. R_

_Nothing by land or by sea. Q_

They had moved, of course, out of the city and into one of the many surrounding suburbs, but Rashel continued to drive into Portland a few times a week to check on the post office box. She didn't want to be surprised by a bunch of vampires turning up at their front door, and if she didn't entirely trust Quinn, at least he would provide some warning.

Worst case scenario was that she just never returned home after one of her errands, and that alone would be signal enough for the others to go into deeper hiding.

_News from the Old North Church? R_

_The Barracks are silent. Q_

She didn't know why the continued lack of activity from their Night World pursuers made her more tense instead of less, but instead of believing that they were actually _safe_ she increased the amount of patrolling she did around their neighborhood, to the point where she was spending all of the time she wasn't at school or asleep out of the house watching. It was harder in suburbia to wander around without attracting attention, but she did her best to cultivate the attitude of a teenager who just didn't give a damn and did what they wanted. She'd even picked up a few packs of clove cigarettes to hold onto while she was being ostensibly delinquent. She didn't smoke them, but pretending to was good enough for most observers.

After all, it wasn't like there was anyone who would call her on it. Even the Daybreakers admitted that her paranoia had a point, and that _someone_ had to make sure that they didn't get surprised and messily murdered.

_Why are you doing this? R_

She didn't really expect a response. She didn't even know why she'd asked it. They'd been limiting their communication to the immediate concerns, but this was definitely more than that. This was the question she wanted answered _almost_ more than she wanted the question of their safety answered (which was a messed up set of priorities, that she was trying not to interrogate herself too hard about, because it would only lead to even more difficult questions).

It was almost a week before she had her answer.

_I think you know why. Q_

She crumpled the note in her hand and threw it into the recycling bin at the post office. If she knew, she wouldn't have to _ask_. She grumbled a little to herself and pulled a piece of paper out of her bag to scrawl another note to Quinn. She had to put it in a stamped envelope for the post office to accept it and put it in the PO box, but the thirty two cents was worth it.

_If I knew, I wouldn't be asking. R_

She sealed the envelope and dropped it into the "local mail" slot before stalking out the double glass doors again. She got into her car and drove back out to the suburb that the rest of the daybreakers had holed up in. Normally, she would run a patrol to make sure that no one was sniffing around their hiding place, but today, she was too annoyed, and besides. The only person who had found them was Quinn, and he hadn't come anywhere near this safe house. It was daytime. She was safe to take a little time off for pique.

She went into the house and shut the door behind her, dropping her black canvas backpack on the floor next to the stairs on her way to the kitchen. It was spacious and bright--a blessing, considering how many of them lived here and shared this space. She went straight to the fridge and grabbed an orange juice before sitting down at the breakfast bar and grabbing a granola bar from the basket they kept full of snacks on the counter.

She was halfway through it before Daphne sat down next to her.

"You skipped half of your classes today," she pointed out.

Rashel shrugged. "I wanted to check the PO box, and I had a patrol to do. I'll catch up on the homework later."

The other girl nodded. Rashel was surprised that she had adjusted so well to life in hiding. Her family had been distracted, but it had been clear that she was loved, and Rashel was sure that she was missed as well. Nonetheless, she'd settled easily into this life of hiding, and was cheerfully pitching in when it came time to take care of the house and the people around her. It was almost like she had been born for this. "Everything all right?" she asked.

Rashel shrugged. "I hope so. No news is good news, right?"

"Right," Daphne agreed. She took a drink from the can of coke she'd taken from the fridge before sitting down. She gave Rashel a sidelong look. "But it looks like something is bothering you."

Rashel frowned at her. "I'm fine. What would be bothering me?"

"You tell me."

She scowled into her orange juice. She was fine. Her confusion regarding Quinn's motives was… It was nothing, and completely apart from all of this. It was a personal matter, and she didn't bring personal matters into her work.

"Or not." Daphne shrugged. "You don't have to tell me what's bothering you. It's fine. I just wanted to let you know that I was willing to listen if you needed someone to talk to."

Rashel grunted. Daphne often wanted to talk, but Rashel wasn't good at friends and things like that. It was easier for her to stay on the outside and do her own thing than to try to fit in, even here. 

"Fayth says that there have been more and more soulmate pairs popping up," Daphne said conversationally. Rashel choked on her juice while she continued. "I wonder what _that's_ like. Being soulmates with a vampire or 'shifter or whatever."

Rashel finished clearing her throat and eyed the other girl. "What are you _talking_ about?"

She shrugged. "Fayth says it's been happening more and more between humans and Night People. Maybe it's some kind of sign. Maybe Daybreak has the right idea, and we're not _supposed_ to be fighting."

Rashel bit back her instinctive _don't be disgusting_ , and tried to come up with a more reasonable response. "They do think of us as food."

"Not all of them," Daphne pointed out. "Not the ones in Circle Daybreak, or the ones who have human soulmates."

She gritted her teeth at the irrational anger the other girl's words brought up. "Well, it's not exactly common, or something you can count on, is it?"

Daphne eyed her. "...No," she said slowly. "I guess not."

Rashel finished her juice and got up to put her glass away. "I'm going to go work on that extra homework, now."

"Okay…"

She ignored Daphne's eyes on her as she left the room.

* * *

_A change of heart. I told you. It's not important. Anyway, the British are coming. They still think you're in that place off Brighton Avenue. Meet me there tomorrow night if you want to make some noise. I can handle it on my own if you don't. Q_

She looked down at the note in her hands, rereading it. Did she want to meet him there? The part of her that had been itching to do _something_ since they'd left Boston said yes. _Screamed_ yes. She'd felt like she was treading water for the weeks and months that they'd been out here hiding, and the idea that she'd finally get to _do_ something about it was very appealing. Was it the best decision? The wisest course of action? No. But she found herself flipping the paper over and scrawling her response on the back, before shoving it back in the envelope and putting it back in the PO box. She knew that wasn't the approved way of using your PO box, but she thought that it would be all right this once.

_I'll be there. Sunset. R_

* * *

Rashel hadn't known for sure whether Quinn actually knew where they had been living, and she actually hoped he didn't--that they had to work to meet up, and the vampires or werewolves that were coming after them were in the wrong place. But when she arrived at the three story apartment building, dressed in black with her scarf wound around her face, it was only moments before Quinn melted out of the shadows, falling into step beside her. He was dressed similarly in black, though without the face covering. Apparently, he didn't care if they knew who he was.

"Glad you could make it," he said quietly. "We should go inside to wait."

She eyed him. "Because that doesn't sound like a trap."

He shot her a quick, sharp grin. "Not for us."

"So you've been planning this?"

He shrugged and opened the door. She motioned for him to go in first, and he did. "If they made it up here, this would be the first place they'd look. I've been keeping an eye on it in case they found it."

She nodded and followed him up the stairs to the apartment they'd been staying in while they'd lived in Portland. The curtains they'd put up were still hanging, and closed against the falling night. And… there were cutouts of people in front of the curtains, and a TV in the front room.

Rashel turned toward him incredulously. He was a vampire. He was _hundreds_ of years old. "When did _you_ watch 'Home Alone'?"

"What?"

She looked again at the cutouts and shook her head. "Nevermind. Have you been _staying_ here?"

"It seemed like the best way to know if they were coming for you."

She grunted and took a seat on the arm of one of the couches--resting, but alert enough to jump into action when she had to. He took a seat opposite her. She appreciated the space between them. "A change of heart?" she asked.

"Yes."

She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. He looked toward the curtained window instead of at her.

" _Why_?" she asked, after several minutes of silence. "And don't tell me it's not important. It's clearly important enough to you that you're here, instead of leading the charge against us."

"You know, I thought about making you one of us," he said conversationally. "It felt like the only way to make any of this make sense. We're supposed to get permission for that kind of thing, of course, but I probably would have gotten a pass, considering my connections."

"Make what make sense?" she asked through numb lips, her entire body tensed to run. She wasn't going to allow him to turn her. She'd fight him tooth and nail if he tried.

"The fact that I seem to be inexplicably and ill-advisedly in love with you." She stared at him in shock and he gave her a thin smile. "Yes, I was surprised, too. And since this kind of thing is absolutely against the law, the only solution that made sense to me once I realized it was to turn you. You can stop looking toward the door, by the way. I'm not actually going to do it, even if it _would_ make both of our lives much easier. The moment I thought it through, I knew you wouldn't accept it. You've been hunting vampires for years. There was no way you'd allow yourself to be turned, even if it was the most logical solution to the problem."

"Logical. Of course." But she relaxed minutely. If he had wanted to grab her, he would have done it by now.

"So _that's_ why I'm doing this," he continued. "Because if I can't do the thing that would actually make _sense_ to keep you safe, that leaves me the option that _doesn't_ make sense."

"And what's that?"

He shrugged. "To kill every Night Person who tries to come after you."

"Just like that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow behind her scarf.

"Just like that."

"So glad you've thought this through," she said dryly. His words kept echoing in her head, getting louder, despite her trying to ignore them. _In love with you_. She felt inexplicably warmed by them, as though she'd been waiting to hear them. "Quinn--"

He held up a hand, stopping her. "They're here," he whispered softly.

She shut her mouth instantly, and reached for her weapons while he did the same. The Night People had clearly expected to burst in on a bunch of unarmed girls, and hadn't been prepared to face a couple of warriors. What followed was brief--and brutal. Between the two of them, they were able to make fairly short work of the three vampires and one werewolf that came through the door. Quinn fought like a seasoned vampire hunter, and any thought she might have had that he might show mercy toward his own kind was immediately dispelled. She hissed as something grazed her shoulder, but ignored it while they fought. Injuries could be attended to later, assuming that there was one.

As the last of their opponents fell, Rashel glanced over at Quinn. He was fine--he wasn't even breathing hard. He grinned fiercely back at her, then his eyes widened. "You're hurt."

She glanced over to her shoulder and winced. There was a long shallow gash, already starting to bleed. "Damn it," she muttered, and brought her hand up to press against it.

"We need to get that taken care of," he said, and helped her back to the bathroom. He motioned for her to sit on the edge of the tub and she did while he opened the medicine cabinet and took out bandages, gauze, tape, and disinfectant.

"Why do you have bandages in here?" she asked, frowning at him.

He glanced over at her, raising his eyebrow. "You and your friends left in a hurry. I guess no one thought to pack up the first aid kit. Lucky you."

"Lucky me," she agreed. "Are you sure you're going to be okay taking care of this? I can handle it on my own if I need to."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I'm not hungry, and it looks like it wraps around toward your back. I think that might be a little awkward for you to handle solo. Move your hand."

He had a point, much as she hated to admit it. She took her hand away and let him see the cut. He hissed out a breath in sympathy. "I don't think you're going to need stitches, but it's a good thing your people left gauze and tape. Bandaids wouldn't have cut it." He took out the disinfectant and pulled her shirt so that the neckline exposed her shoulder. "This is going to sting. Or so I hear." And he set to work cleaning and bandaging the cut. It should have hurt. It did… sort of. But every brush of his fingers just left her feeling fizzy and a little light-headed until she was practically giddy when he leaned back. "All done."

"Aren't you going to kiss it better?" What was she _saying_?

He gave her a look like she'd lost her mind, but with a bemused smile, he leaned in again and kissed her.

It was electric and explosive at once, and she felt like she was falling, but Quinn's arms were there to catch her. _Connection. Light._ She could _see_ him like this. His light and his darkness and everything that made _him_. His soul.

 _Is this what they mean by soulmates?_ she wondered.

 _I… think so… I didn't think it was really possible._ his voice (was it really a voice? In this space?) was soft, and she could see him looking around this quiet, bright space that they shared with naked wonder on his face. She had the sudden realization that if she saw him, he could see her--all of her--and what should have sent her screaming instead left her feeling awed and… connected. It was right that they should see each other like this. Nothing between them. 

_I didn't think so either. I heard things..._

_I heard things too. I… might have a few apologies to make._ She could feel his amusement in a wave that left her feeling giddy again. She laughed, and the parts of him that were light swelled and exploded in rainbow prisms.

 _You're beautiful,_ she told him breathlessly.

_So are you._

She glanced behind her. _I have my darkness._

 _So do I._ He gave her a slight smile. _But we have each other now, too._

She could feel, dimly, in the space outside of their private bubble, their arms wrapped around each other while his lips rested on her shoulder. They did have each other. And a place they could go when they left here.

 _I don't think Circle Daybreak is going to want me._ His mental voice was tinged with regret. _Not with everything I've done._

 _They're not all that comfortable having a semi-reformed vampire hunter around either._ She gave him a fierce grin. _We can make them uncomfortable together._

She could feel his amusement again, and she leaned into it, moving toward him in their minds and taking his hands. Whatever happened, and whatever they did next, they were never going to have to be alone again.

**Author's Note:**

> Go check out [some lovely fanart](https://albawhitequeen.tumblr.com/post/190184763969/and-yet-another-rashelxquinn-fanart-this-time) inspired by this fic!


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